Friday, April 27, 2012

Why You Were Late For The Meeting

You're at lunch when your smartphone buzzes with an e-mail from your boss: "Don't forget, we have a meeting in 10 minutes." Of course you did forget, so you rush out of the restaurant and attempt to make it before it starts. But a crazy chain of events stops you from getting back in time for the meeting. Writer's Digest

I was feeling the effects of the food coma I had just caused when my phone started vibrating. I fumbled with it but managed not to drop it. I touched the screen and read the email on it. The email contained a single line: "don't forget, we have a meeting in 10 minutes."

I freaked out and bumped the table as I got up. The silverware rattled on the plates and a cup of water spilled over. "I'm sorry. I really need to go." I handed the waiter a ten dollar bill and took off running.

The café was only a block away from the office but I was already gasping for air when I reached the front door. I stopped for a second to catch my breath when my phone started vibrating again. This time I didn't bother to check it and walked into the building. I looked across the lobby and noticed one of the elevators was open. I took off running and yelled "Hold the door!" The door closed as I was getting to it. I lost my footing as I tried to stop and ended up on the floor knocking down the trash can between the elevators.

I got up and ran across the lobby and headed for the stairs. The stairwell was made up of grey concrete and grey railings spanning from the basement all the way up to the tenth floor, my final destination. I was about to reach the fifth floor when the door flew open. A young executive assistant came through the door carrying about two trees worth of paper and bumped into me. I grabbed her by the arm and steadied her. One more step and we would have had a Carnival in the stairwell.

I made sure she was OK and continued on my journey. By the time I reached the eighth floor I had slowed down considerably. Then I noticed a hissing sound coming from above. I leaned on the railing and looked up towards the ceiling but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. I continued to climb becoming more aware of the sound as I got closer to the source. I reached the tenth floor to be greeted by a leaky water pipe. I put my hand in front of me to shield myself from the water when the pipe burst open. Cold water rained on me and within seconds I was soaked from head to toe. I managed to stay on my feet and staggered to the door, went through it, and shut it behind me.

Everyone in the office stopped to look at me. I tried to catch my breath, then asked "where's the meeting?"

"You didn't get the memo?" one of my coworkers asked chuckling.

Dumbfounded I reached into my pocket and took out my phone. With wet fingers I unlocked the screen, touched the email icon and then selected the unread email. It read: "Meeting rescheduled for tomorrow. Same time."